Japanese Beetles Pt 2

Japanese Beetles Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I’m Bob Larson. The Washington Department of Agriculture is calling on everyone to be on the lookout for Japanese beetles in Central Washington.

The invasive pests target many different fruit crops, and the Department of Agriculture’s Karla Salp says they’re taking the metallic green and brown beetles seriously …

SALP … “It could cause wide-spread damage to crops, but also, this is a quarantine pest. So, for agriculture purposes, there could be significant impacts if the area is quarantined or if the population were to expand.”

But, Salp says we need to move fast …

SALP … “We’re trying to hit this as quickly as we can, hopefully eradicate it, and we’re really going to need everyone’s help in order to do that as quickly as possible and have as little of impact as possible to both farmers and gardeners.”

Salp says trapping is pretty easy …

SALP … “There are commercially available traps that are very effective for Japanese beetles. So, if you get some of those and hang them, that’s fantastic. One thing that we would like you to report or drop off your traps with the beetles in them because we need to know the numbers that are being caught and where.”

To find out more, Salp says …

SALP … “We have a website dedicated to the Japanese beetle. It’s www.agr.wa.gov/beetle and that will take you right to the page with information about Japanese beetles in Washington state.”

Salp says be sure to report them when you see them, but if you can get them samples of the critters, please do!

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